Anyone Can Produce Plays with Kids

201623 Resource 100513 101704 101704 1207928048239 1207935311260 Controlled Rehearsals: Going from Chaos to Constructive

The first time I directed teenagers, I was all open heart, friendship, and good intentions. Rehearsals were going to be fun, and we were all going to be best friends forever… or at least until the show closed. Surprise, it didn’t work out that way!

Under my too-gentle tutelage, I watched rehearsals erode into Cirque du Chaos. I had left the room momentarily and upon returning found a student whooping and swinging from a light fixture in the ceiling—literally, egged on by others. Until that moment, I thought that only happened in the movies by characters named Tarzan or Pirate One Eye! In corners of the room sat other actors, slightly traumatized and wishing they had gone out for sports. They were certainly not learning what they could have been had I been a tougher director. It was then I decided that I would always follow the protocol of professional theater. My opening line at the first rehearsal is, “Ladies and Gentlemen, theater is not a democracy. It’s a dictatorship. I’m the dictator.”  I am unsmiling when I say this, by the way. Then, I lay out the rules, the same ones that they will follow if they go into theater as a profession. I start with this rule, which is the most effective way I’ve found to get teens out of their cliques and able to form an ensemble:  actors are NEVER to criticize, make suggestions or give unsolicited advice to another actor. Any creative suggestions you might have should be used for your own character, not someone else’s.  Teenagers love to point out how someone else could do better. I tell them if they have a problem with another actor or a suggestion for them, they should bring it to me privately. In the professional theater, it’s absolutely taboo for an actor to complain about or critique another actor. The hierarchy is there for a reason: everyone can play good cop, but only the director should play bad cop. You want the kids to form a cohesive ensemble built on trust so that they’re willing to take risks with their characters. The next time you are working with teenage actors, if you, the director, start by instilling this discipline from the beginning, chances are you’ll soon be able to lighten up, have fun and direct the best possible show you can get out of your kids. 9 application/xml false amateur theater directing students directing teens fun with actors professional theatre rehearsing teenage acting teenage drama Anyone Can Produce Plays with Kids This easy-to-read text opens the door to play production with children for teachers and parents who have little or no drama training. http://www.pioneerdrama.com/searchdetail.asp?pc=ANYONECANP&id=0 On With the Show! This straight-forward guide?which is really three books in one?gives you the tools to work more effectively and efficiently toward the final production. http://www.pioneerdrama.com/searchdetail.asp?pc=ONWITHTHES&id=7 Play Directing in the School This text details the world of producing plays in schools. Whether it's budgeting, scheduling or the motivating and management of students, this is a must for anyone in an educational institution. http://www.pioneerdrama.com/searchdetail.asp?pc=PLAYSCHOOL&id=10 Film Directing Tips From a Pro: Movie Directing Made Easy NYU Film School grad shows you the easy way to directing actors. Whether film directing or directing a play you can learn a better way to dealing with actors that will improve your scenes instantly. Directing a movie can be a fun experience if you only know how to deal with actors. http://www.dealingwithactors.com/?hop=clickzone Children's Theater Links Hi! My name is Debra Woods Hamilton. I live in Utah, and I created this links page for my own needs as a drama teacher, but now it is a popular, well indexed page on the internet. I hope you will find it useful. http://childrenstheaterlinks.org/ Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 mglassman 64.62.58.1 false true false false true 100513 blog blogsite/PioneerDrama/newsletter